Posted by: Dave P (dkcoachdave@yahoo.com) on Sat Sep 4 00:21:27 2010

The main contribution of 'hip rotation' is to induce a stronger 'shoulder rotation'. --- I would like to hear anyone's thoughts that believe energy from 'hip rotation' can effect the bat's acceleration while the shoulders are held static.
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> Jack Mankin

Hi Jack

The reason why hip rotation is so important is that without it the shoulders will rotate slower and cause slower bat speeds. If the small muscles of the shoulders and arms are forced to pull the big muscles of the legs and hips due to them rotating ahead of the hips the arms must be going slower.

Therefore without hip rotation the rotation of the shoulders are not as effiecent and will not only reduce speed but also reduce the length that the bat will travel on the same plane with the ball. This will reduce the area that a bat and ball can collide and create mishits and poor contact (over or under the ball).

Since the lower body, primarly the legs, start and accelerate the hip rotation the first motion to create the best shoulder rotation are the legs. Which allows the hips to rotate, which allows the torso to rotate and then allow the shoulders to rotate freely without having to work against the bigger muscles that support the shoulders and eventuately the arms.

All parts are linked together so if a link is broken anywhere along the chain the movement is not effiecent. Like most machines larger pieces of equipment move smaller pieces of equipment faster then the other way around.

Dave P